Preliminary results for Rhode Island’s General Election show Democrat Hillary Clinton leading Republican Donald Trump. A ballot measure for a casino in Tiverton appears headed for passage. And voters have approved bond issues for port upgrades, green space, the state Veteran’s home and construction at the University of Rhode Island.
RI General Election Preliminary Results Overview
With mail ballots still to be counted, Democrat Hillary Clinton has won Rhode Island with nearly 54 percent of the vote. Republican Donald Trump got more than 39 percent, a closer result than some analysts expected. But in a heavily Democratic state, Clinton was heavily favored to win.
A measure to build a casino in Tiverton offering table games like black jack and poker has passed statewide by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. Tiverton voters appear to have approved the casino, but in-person voting was close : 52 percent in favor to 48 percent opposed. Twin River spokeswoman Patti Doyle said she will wait for results from some 800 mail ballots before declaring victory.
As of 10:30 p.m., it remained too close to call the re-election battle for Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello in Cranston. Machine ballot counting showed Mattiello’s Republican rival Steven Frias ahead by roughly 150 votes, but Mattiello said he remains confident of a win after the mail ballots have been counted.
The bond issue to pay for upgrades at the ports of Providence and Quonset passed easily. So did bond issues for affordable housing, construction at the University of Rhode Island and construction at the state Veterans Home. A constitutional amendment to restore some Ethics Commission oversight of lawmakers passed 78 percent to 22 percent.
A bond issue for green economy investments, bikeways and green space preservation passed with 67 percent of the vote.
In Massachusetts, a ballot question to legalize recreational marijuana appeared headed for passage.
Looking for details on ballot measures and local races? Check here.
Long lines at some polls
At Temple Beth El on the city’s East Side, voter Will Morgan waited to cast his vote for more than an hour on Tuesday.
“Well it’s been a zoo,” said Morgan. “We’ve been here for an hour and a half. Everyone is in line, and the one machine broke down, so they’re taking them by hand. But it’s worth it. Democracy is messy.”
The Board of Elections replied to a tweet from Rhode Island public Radio saying they’re aware of the problem. But voter frustration was rising as the line stretched through the Temple Beth El auditorium doors earlier Tuesday morning.
In Pawtucket, several polling places experienced slow-downs due to problems with voting machines. At Francis Varieur School, a voting machine jammed, causing wait times as long as two hours. Poll workers and the Board of Elections brought in a second machine to alleviate the problem.
RIPR’s Ambar Espinoza reports that some voters were inserting ballots incorrectly, causing paper jams in the ballot counting machines. The ballots in Pawtucket were also relatively long, and the extra pages may have contributed to the problem.
What’s driving voters to the polls?What drove Rhode Islanders to the polls? It wasn’t just the presidential election, but many other local issues. For one, the drive was stress – voting means the divisive election season is over!
Definitely the presidential selection. Voter Diana Seaver from Chepachet says she faced a dilemma in deciding who to vote for in this presidential election:
“I’m a Republican, but there’s no Republican running, that’s the problem,” said Seaver, who feels Republican candidate Donald Trump does not represent traditional republican values. “So I did vote for Hillary, because I’m on Obamacare and she’s the only one who can fix it.”
Justin Pattison-Schmidt also voted in Gloucester. He voted for Donald Trump, responding to the Make America Great Again message. He wants his vote to help: ”…get the country back on track so we can be prosperous again.”
Pattison-Schmidt says he also voted in favor of the bond to improve the state Veterans Home.
“Our veterans, a lot of them, are homeless. They come back and they really have no one looking out for them. It’s about time that we start helping our veterans.”
Some voters told us they were voting in favor of the casino in Twin River because it would generate revenue and bring jobs. Others found the idea distasteful.
Cranston voter Monica Suarez says she’s in favor of the affordable housing bond, because it’s tough to find affordable housing, especially on a single income. She voted for Hillary Clinton because she says she found Donald Trump’s rhetoric too racist.
Josephine McCarthy in Johnston says she’s also concerned about the low income. She voted for Donald Trump because she says she believes he’ll raise the minimum wage and help get the homeless and jobless back to work and off the streets.
Voting Runs Smoothly In Newport
Despite reports of long lines and broken equipment in some parts of the state, things were moving relatively quickly at two polling centers in Newport.
There was only one ballot scanner at Pell Elementary School and at the Newport Public Library, but voters were moving rapidly through both stations. Supporters of various city council and general assembly candidates held signs outside. Only one person held a sign for a presidential candidate. And that person, Newport resident Dale Clark, voted for Republican Donald Trump.
“The main issue that drove me out today is to put Trump and Pence in the Whitehouse, to help create jobs for Americans, stop the heroin in the streets, and take America back,” said Clark. “That’s our main objective.”
Clark added that he voted for Trump in part over the current Supreme Court vacancy, left earlier this year following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
“(Trump) has already picked who he’ll have for Supreme Court justices, versus a bunch of liberal fanatics in the Whitehouse,” said Clark. “We’ve already got enough of them in there now, and that’s why nothing’s getting done.”
Several voters said they had cast their ballots for Trump, though most political analysts expect Democrat Hillary Clinton to carry the Ocean State.
Walking out of the polls at the library, Maria Chiancola said she’s been following Hillary Clinton’s career for years. She said she was happy to vote for Clinton, who could be the nation’s first female president.
“I think this race in particular, for me as a woman, I’m proud that there’s a woman on the ballot and I think she’s an exceptional candidate, so I was happy to come out and vote for her,” said Chiancola.
Newport resident Laura Slater also voted for Clinton, who she says will unite the country. Slater says she thinks Republican nominee Donald Trump is helping foment animosity across the U.S.
“He needs to be stopped,” said Slater. “I mean he’s divisive. He’s keeping this country with hostility and anger, and he’s going on that, and capitalizing on that to win.”
Newport resident James Dulworth voted for Democratic candidate Clinton at the Public Library. Dulworth said he thinks former Secretary of State is a flawed candidate, but would make a better President than the Republican nominee.
“I’m voting against Donald Trump, because I don’t think he’s stable enough to be Presiden,” said Dulworth. “He’s very entertaining, and some of his ideas are good, but he went overboard with some of the things he said. He crossed the line.”
